New Jersey State Library

State Librarian Norma Blake

A Message from the State Librarian

• When the cold weather finally moved into New Jersey earlier this month, it didn’t slow down the activities of the State Library in serving the needs of libraries and the customers they serve.

• New Jersey State Library staff have made over one dozen visits to legislators and others regarding the New Jersey Knowledge Initiative. We have been told that the $3 million is in the Governor’s draft budget for discussion. A proposal has been sent to Executive Director of the Higher Education Commission Jane Oates to purchase additional databases if the money can be found. Susan Kaplan, Patricia Tumulty, and I gave an award to President Debbie Hart and Chairperson Michael Becker of the Bio-Tech Council at their annual meeting on January 30 for their endorsement of the NJKI. Caren Franzini of EDA attended the presentation and was also thanked for her agency’s support. I also want to thank and acknowledge Mary Romance who has been the NJLA point person on NJKI and has been a role model for grass-roots advocacy for statewide issues in this regard.
• Library construction is still high on our agenda. The nominees made by librarians for the Public Library Construction Advisory Board have been sent to the Secretary of State to share with the Governor should he wish to make any changes to the Construction Advisory Board. The list contains the names of trustees, friends, movers and shakers, and it shows a good geographic representation.

• Regrettably we learned that Jeffrey Kesper will be retiring as the Director of the Library Development Bureau on March 31. Jeffrey has been the driving force behind our marketing and entrepreneurial efforts. He also can be credited with many new programs and organizational support for the New Jersey Library Network. Jeffrey will be sorely missed both by the staff here at NJSL and by the staffs of New Jersey libraries. Kathi Peiffer will be the acting director of the Library Development Bureau after Jeffrey leaves until a new director is appointed.
• NJSL Director of Technology Rob Zangara plans to conduct four meetings statewide to update the field about JerseyConnect. We have over 300 libraries up on the system. Rob will be working with the users group as time goes on. The JerseyConnect team is looking at the Pine Open Source ILS system, and they are experimenting with the open source software. Rob and his staff will be in conversation with VALE regarding a possible partnership on the use of the system with VALE members.
• The NJ Library Network Review Board is making changes to their bylaws and deciding what aspects of the Network Programs they want to review and discuss in the coming year. They are looking forward to some reports that will be coming from the Regions that will help to develop an advocacy plan.
• Over 1000 library staff members evaluated JerseyClicks, the federated databases. As many changes as possible are being made, depending on what we can afford and what we can do with our current vendor. NJSL will be opening the process of choosing a vendor at the end of the contract. We will wait and see who gets the contract before deciding on major changes to the system.

• The NJSL awarded a $50,000 grant to NJ Library Association to administer the Statewide Summer Reading program for the fifth year in a row. Participation in summer reading program continues to increase each year with 2006 having been the most successful ever.
• NJ State Library has received a $48,150.00 grant from the US Library Program of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to promote the sustainability of public access computing in rural and small libraries throughout the state. The Rural Library Sustainability Project is collaboration between WebJunction, state library agencies and rural and small library staff across the United States. The program is designed to empower small and rural libraries with information and resources to meet their unique challenges and to better manage and sustain their public access to computing programs. The Gates Foundation will determine which specific NJ libraries are eligible to attend workshops funded by the grant.
• The New Jersey State Library has been working closely with the Reference Section of NJLA and the Regional Library Cooperatives on two projects. One evaluated JerseyClicks with over 100 library staff members participating in focus group discussions that centered on the federated search features of JerseyClicks and the organization of resources found on JerseyClicks. Another joint project evaluated the databases that the New Jersey State Library and Regional Library Cooperatives license for all New Jersey residents. Over 700 people participated in the database evaluation. All statewide database licenses will be negotiated in the near future.
• Interest continues to grow in the New Jersey Knowledge Initiative as NJSL staff maintains its efforts to acquire future funding. We have received calls in response to a feature article published in the December 5, 2006 issue of NJBIZ magazine. Other calls have been received from the states of New York, Pennsylvania and Delaware where plans are underway to start their own knowledge initiatives. The numbers indicate the success of NJKI: over 265 startup and small high-tech businesses have registered for NJKI database access, and over five million articles and records were used in the first year alone. With input from the NJKI Task Force and recent survey responses, NJSL staff developed a proposal to expand the Knowledge Initiative, as requested by Jane Oates, Executive Director of the Commission on Higher Education. NJSL staff continue to promote NJKI across the state by offering training sessions for various audiences, attending business summits and meeting with different state government departments, particularly the Department of Labor.

• Cooperation between the Division of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and the NJ Library for the Blind and Handicapped continues to grow in order to serve our customers. DDHH has given us a $25,000 grant to purchase updated assistive technology to loan to customers and through our Regional Resource Centers in New Jersey public libraries.
• The National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS), which supplies the New Jersey Library for the Blind and Handicapped with audio-books, will phase out cassette tapes and replace that medium with books recorded on digital flash media. The transition will take years, during which time the library will circulate both media (audio-cassette books and flash media books) and players that are specific to each medium. Eventually, NLS will discontinue the recording of new audio-cassette titles and production of additional NLS cassette players; however, customers who choose to continue to use the cassette books will be able to do so and may even opt to have both machines to read both formats.
• NFB NEWSLINE has rolled out the long awaited National TV listings. Customers of the Library for the Blind and Handicapped are eligible for this service which was made available December 20, 2006. The service can be customized to suit individual preferences when customers use their telephones to enter their zip code, local television-service provider and time zone. The system then delivers personalized television listings to customers based on each customer’s profile, giving them the TV listings at their fingertips.

• Public libraries throughout the state will be receiving packets containing information and materials regarding two very important statewide public awareness campaigns: CelebrateNJ 365 and Free Comic Book Day. The State Library has created a partnership with CelebrateNJ.org this year to publicize the best of New Jersey through a year-long campaign featuring billboards, ads, posters and commercials. A specially designed promotional tent card and post cards for library staff to distribute to customers are included in the mailing. Also in the packet is a registration form for libraries to participate in The Free Comic Book Day campaign that will include the release of the Super Librarian Comic Book in partnership and conjunction with the nationally advertised event on May 5.

• SLIC’s project to install PC management software on all public computers is moving forward with the selection of Envisionware. The selection committee researched several products and made site visits to several public libraries to observe how the various products are performing and to determine specifications for our installation. The final selection was easy because Envisionware, the unanimous choice of the committee, was also the low bidder. The software has been purchased and received.
• The interlibrary loan staff of the State Library Information Center demonstrated their successful implementation of the ILLiad system to a visitor from the Pennsylvania State Library. ILLiad allows library users to place requests at their convenience, any hour or day of the week, and it saves time for library staff.
• Reference Services is currently conducting database trials for Sanborn Digital Maps and Carroll government directories.
• We are pleased announce that Kenneth Ritchie has joined the SLIC staff as its Circulation Supervisor. He received his master’s degree in library and information science from Rutgers and has been working as a librarian part-time at Burlington County College Technical and Engineering Center Library for the past four years. Ritchie is no stranger to state government service, with more than fifteen years of experience working as a paralegal with the State Division of Law, Debt Recovery Section. He joined the staff on January 22.

Gary Zonderwyk is an NJSL pro. He has worked at the Library for the Blind and Handicapped since 1974. Gary credits his hiring in part to his love of science fiction. Not only did he have many other skills needed by LBH, his expertise with science fiction made him a real asset to the library as reader’s advisor on the genre. One of Gary’s greatest compliment's came when a customer who threatened to hunt him down if he ever left the library.

Gary Zonderwyk lives in Westampton where he attended Rancocas Valley High School. Rancocas Valley High School was Moorestown’s arch rival in every Thanksgiving Day football classic, and Gary graduated just two years after pro football great Franco Harris.

Gary is a real family oriented guy. After caring for his parents for nine years, Gary still enjoys spending time with his brother and sister and the rest of his family in the mid-Atlantic area. Gary’s family spent summers and falls at the shore over the years, and he has fond memories of vacationing in Wildwood.

Gary is an avid reader. He also enjoys viewing classic sci-fi movies on the big screen. His recommendations, you ask? Gary suggests reading one of his sci-fi favorites, Isle of the Dead, by Roger Zelazny or anything by William Gibson, the man who coined the word, "cyberspace." Thank you for the tips, Gary!

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Montville Library

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The NJSL Update is the New Jersey State Library's on-line newsletter. It carries news about activities at the State Library and about our work with and for libraries in the state. Contact: Mark Amorosi in the NJSL Marketing Department at (609) 943-5189 or mamorosi@njstatelib.org.